Prospect Talent Score

Probability of Success

History

2009-10: Daniel Gunnarsson played in one game in AllSvenskan (Sweden's second league) as a 17-year-old while skating for Leksands' U20 and U18 teams. He also played for Vastmanland in Sweden's TV-Pucken tournament for high school-aged players. Gunnarsson had no points or penalty minutes in his only men's game with Leksands. In 14 games for third-place Leksands U20, he scored 2 goals with 3 assists and was plus-11 with six penalty minutes. In eleven games with Leksands U18, including three playoff games, he was plus-two and had 3 goals with 2 assists. In eight games for Vastmanland he had 1 goal with 5 assists and 8 penalty minutes.

2010-11: Gunnarsson played in 14 men's games – playing nine games in Allsvenskan with Leksands and five games on loan with Division 1 Falu IF – and was one of the top defensemen for Leksands U20 team. He was scoreless with no penalty minutes in five regular season games for Leksands, which finished fourth in AllSvenskan. Gunnarsson played in four of six games during the Kval playoffs and was plus-two with 2 penalty minutes. Playing for last-place Falu IF in the Division 1 C division, he had 3 assists and was an even plus/minus with 4 penalty minutes. In 38 games with Leksands U20 team he led all defensemen in points and penalty minutes; scoring 3 goals with 10 assists and finishing plus-12 with 51 penalty minutes.

2011-12: Gunnarson played for Lulea in the Elitserien as a 19-year-old rookie and gained some international experience representing Sweden at both the men's team and U20 levels. Averaging just under nine minutes of ice time in 46 regular season games with Lulea, he scored 3 goals with 4 assists and was plus-six with 8 penalty minutes. Lulea had the league's best record before being upset by AIK in the first round of the playoffs. In the five-game playoff series Gunnarsson was minus-one with no points or penalty minutes. In six games with Lulea's U20 team he scored 2 goals with 1 assist and was plus-five with 8 penalty minutes. In seven international games for Sweden, including four men's contests, he scored 1 goal with 3 assists and was plus-two but he did not play in the world championship tournaments. In his second year of eligibility for the NHL Draft, Gunnarsson was not among the 140 European skaters in Central Scouting's final rankings but was selected by Minnesota in the fifth round (128th overall).

2012-13: Gunnarsson was a teammate of fellow Wild prospect goalie Johan Gustafsson with Lulea in Sweden's SHL. In 53 games he scored 6 goals with 11 assists and was +10 with 20 penalty minutes. Lulea, after finishing fourth in the regular season, advanced to the SHL Finals against regular season champion Skelleftea. Gunnarsson scored 3 goals with 2 assists and was -7 with 2 penalty minutes in 15 playoff games.

Talent Analysis

A big, offensively oriented defenseman who has good mobility for his size. He is only average in terms of defensive zone coverages and could be more aggressive by NHL standards.

Future

Played second-pairing minutes for a good Lulea team and put up some points. He is still under contract to the Swedish club through 2014.

Photo: Frolunda defenseman and Dallas Stars prospect John Klingberg has gotten a small taste of North American hockey the past couple of seasons, but will move to North America for the 2014-15 season (courtesy of Andrew Dieb/Icon SMI)

As the 2014 NHL Draft approaches, it is important to take note that the NHL is currently chock full of players hailing from Sweden. In particular, it would have been difficult to find many NHL rosters that lacked a Swede patrolling the blueline this past season.

Photo: Zack Mitchell, signed as a free agent by the Wild in March, was a key player in all situations for Guelph as the Storm won the OHL title and made it to the Memorial Cup final (courtesy of CHL Images)

Playoff season is a marathon of several months, and for hockey fans it can be the best and the worst time of the year.

Photo: Boston College freshman Adam Gilmour has managed to stand out despite a limited fourth-line role, scoring 19 points through 37 games in 2013-14 (courtesy of Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images)

In today's salary-cap league, NHL teams need to pursue every available avenue to procure and retain good hockey players at reasonable cost. After going out and acquiring Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, Jason Pominville and Dany Heatley, the Wild has had to bank on some of the longer-shots in its prospect group developing into dependable NHL players who can fill out a top-heavy roster cheaply and effectively.

Photo: Defenseman Matt Dumba takes over the top spot in this edition of the Minnesota Wild Top 20. Dumba opened the 2013-14 season in the NHL, but he is currently skating with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks (courtesy of Brad Rempel/Icon SMI)

Photo: Detroit Red Wings forward prospect Mattias Janmark-Nylen (#24), shown here in action with Sweden at the 2013 Karjala Cup, has been scoring a a point-per-game clip for AIK this season (courtesy of Janerik Henriksson/AFP/Getty Images)

The first quarter of the Swedish Hockey League’s 2013-14 season has come and passed, and there’s plenty to be happy about in the scouting community. The number of young, recently drafted players currently dotting the rosters of both SHL and Allsvenskan (second highest men’s professional league in Sweden) clubs is about as impressive as ever, as professional teams continue to have little concern about going to battle with line-ups that often only feature an average age of 23-25.